Onboarding a seal supplier: the documents a buyer needs

Which documents does a buyer ask for?

Supplier quality and purchasing usually split the file between them. Your own procedure may add documents, and a purchase order can call for more on a given part.

What should the quality system certificate show?

Check the standard the certificate is issued to, its scope, the certification body that issued it, and the dates it is valid between. The scope matters most, because it says which activities the certificate covers: a distributor's certificate should name distribution, and a maker's should name the parts it makes.

At Conquest Seal: AS9100D certified, scope includes distribution (certificate CONQ-001). The certificate, its dates and its OASIS listing are on the certificate page, with the certificate to download. Gaskets are cut on Conquest Seal's own waterjet in Orange, California, and the O-rings, molded rubber and other seals are supplied as a distributor; on parts made through the overseas manufacturing program, Conquest Seal is the manufacturer of record and issues the manufacturer's certificate for those parts.

How is a certificate of conformance different from the maker's certificate?

A certificate of conformance is the supplier's signed statement that the parts shipped conform to your purchase order and the specification it names; it is a statement, not test data. The manufacturer's certificate, or for a gasket cut from sheet the sheet maker's certification, says which company made the parts or the material and to which specification. A batch test report adds measured results for the batch. Each answers a different question at receiving, so the purchase order should name every document it needs.

At Conquest Seal: a certificate of conformance ships with every order, naming the part number, the specification, the manufacturer, the lot and the quantity, with the manufacturer's cure date on elastomer parts. The manufacturer's own certificate ships with specification parts, a cut gasket ships with the sheet maker's material certification, and a batch test report goes with the order where the program requires one and the manufacturer issues it. The certificate of conformance guide shows what each line on the certificate proves.

When does a buyer need a first article report?

A first article inspection report records a representative part from the first production run, checked against every characteristic on its drawing and specification, on the forms SAE AS9102 defines. Buyers usually ask for one on a new part number, after a change to the drawing, the process or the source, after a long gap in production, or when the program's quality plan calls for it. A repeat order of the same part at the same revision does not need a new report.

At Conquest Seal: an AS9102 first article report is available on request. Say on the purchase order which forms you need and whether the report is full or partial; the AS9102 guide lists what to send with the order.

What do RoHS, REACH and conflict minerals statements cover?

RoHS is the EU directive that restricts certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (Directive 2011/65/EU), so buyers ask about any seal that goes into such equipment. REACH is the EU regulation on chemicals (EC 1907/2006); it singles out substances of very high concern, and a REACH statement says whether a part contains one. Conflict minerals statements answer the rule the US Securities and Exchange Commission adopted under section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which covers tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. A company that reports under that rule on Form SD must make a reasonable country of origin inquiry into those metals, and the representations it relies on can come through its immediate suppliers.

Each answer depends on the compound and the company that made it, so a statement covers the part numbers or compounds it names. At Conquest Seal: RoHS, REACH and conflict minerals statements are available on request; name the part numbers or compounds with the request, or send your own form.

What does purchasing need to set up the account?

Some documents come from purchasing's side of the file rather than quality's. A Form W-9 is the form on which a US supplier certifies, under penalties of perjury, that the taxpayer identification number it gives your company is correct; the supplier signs and dates it, and your company keeps it in its records. A certificate of insurance shows the supplier's coverage, its insurer and the policy dates, so purchasing can check them against the insurance clause in your terms. If your company treats its drawings as confidential, its nondisclosure agreement usually goes out before the first drawing does.

Each of these follows your company's own terms and forms, so send your forms with the supplier setup request through the contact page, and a Conquest representative replies.

How do suppliers answer export-control questions?

A supplier questionnaire usually asks whether the supplier can receive export-controlled drawings or technical data, and whether it handles controlled unclassified information (CUI) under the security clauses some defense contracts carry. Settle the answer before the first drawing goes out, because it decides whether a print can be sent at all.

At Conquest Seal: export-controlled drawings are not accepted, and neither is CUI. Please don't send a drawing marked ITAR, EAR, CUI or export-controlled. For those parts, call (714) 632-9830.

How do you check lot traceability before the first order?

Traceability is checked on paper: the lot number on the supplier's certificate of conformance should lead to the manufacturer's certificate for the same lot, and from there to the company that made the parts, with every seller in between named. Ask a new supplier how a lot moves through its receiving and shipping, how long it keeps certificates, and what it requires of its own suppliers. The clauses in your contract set what the paper has to contain; the lot traceability guide covers the clauses defense contracts often carry.

At Conquest Seal: traceability runs from the manufacturer's certificate through receipt and shipment, and every lot is received against the purchase order and the specification, with identity, quantity and paperwork checked. Conquest Seal's purchase orders to its own suppliers require certificates and batch and cure dates on every item, as the supplier requirements page sets out. Certificates are kept permanently for customers whose contracts require it, and for 15 years otherwise; digital records, kept from 2020 on, are retained indefinitely. A written procedure for preventing counterfeit products covers monitoring, detection and awareness.

What should you send to set Conquest Seal up as a supplier?

• Your supplier questionnaire, survey or document list
• The part numbers you plan to buy, so the documents that depend on the part come back tied to them
• Your own forms for tax, insurance and confidentiality, if your process uses them
• Any traceability, first article or record retention clause your contract flows down

Send them through the contact page or with a quote request; a person replies to a quote request within one business day. The compliance documents page lists what Conquest Seal supplies for a supplier file, and the certificate page has the certificate to download.

Adding Conquest Seal as a second source for a part you already buy? The second source page covers how a part number crosses. Moving several seal lines to one supplier? The kitting and vendor consolidation guide covers the part list.

Sources

1. SAE AS9102, Aerospace Series, First Article Inspection Requirements (SAE Mobilus record for AS9102C, revised June 2023), read 2026-09-27
2. European Commission, Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU), environment.ec.europa.eu, read 2026-09-27
3. European Parliament and Council, Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH), OJ L 396 of 30.12.2006: Article 33, the duty to communicate information on substances in articles, and Articles 57 and 59, substances of very high concern and the candidate list, Publications Office of the European Union (EUR-Lex), read 2026-10-24
4. Federal Register, Conflict Minerals, final rule of the Securities and Exchange Commission, 77 FR 56274, September 12, 2012: Rule 13p-1 and Form SD under section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the conflict mineral definition (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) and the reasonable country of origin inquiry, federalregister.gov, read 2026-10-24
5. 17 CFR 240.13p-1, Requirement of report regarding disclosure of registrant's supply chain information regarding conflict minerals (the report on Form SD), eCFR, read 2026-10-24
6. 26 CFR 31.3406(h)-3, Certificates: Form W-9 as the form on which a payee certifies its taxpayer identification number to the payor, and the payor's retention of the form, eCFR, read 2026-10-24